The Story of Two People and Their Path to Financial Independence

This week marks our one year blogiversary, I seriously can’t believe it. In case you are curious, here’s our first post: Sharing is Caring. It’s nowhere near my best work, but it’s what officially put us in the blogosphere.

One thing I’ve learned, which finally sunk in last week in Ecuador, was to embrace the mistakes and misfortune since they have shaped us into the people we are today. Not gonna lie, we easily become disheartened when thinking about how much money we used to spend or how much we’ve missed out on by not investing sooner. But rather than harp on the bad, I try to embrace it and be thankful that we eventually came to our FI senses.

Even though we didn’t start as early as we would have liked, we have been killing our FI numbers this year. Actually, we surpassed our stretch year-end net worth goal in September so everything from now till December is just icing on the money cake.

Bring on the Benjamins (and the cake).

Another thing I realized since starting this blog is the power of accountability. I went through a rough patch this year, becoming too busy to write and post. I was frustrated with myself with each passing week that I failed to post something. Luckily, Mr. Wow covered for me and took control of the blog reins during my disappearance. Then it dawned on me, “Use the power of the blog to hold me accountable.” I wrote a “no more excuses” post detailing my faults and vowing to never let them get in the way again. Since then, I haven’t fallen off the blog wagon.

The best part of this whole blog thing was becoming a part of this amazing community. We have met so many super cool and interesting people. Chautauqua was a great way to met many of the heavy hitters like JL Collins, Mr. Money Mustache, the Mad Fientist, Paula Pant, Coach Carson and Gwen, the Fiery Millenial herself. But over the year, we also got to hang out with Miss Mazuma when she stopped through LA, Mr. 1500 at a stellar brewery in Colorado, the Need2Save couple after a conference I attended in Baltimore and Tonya from Budget & The Beach (well, we live down the street from each other so we get to hang out with her and run on the beach on a regular basis). There have also been many ridiculously awesome people who don’t blog too, don’t worry, I wouldn’t forget about you. I am definitely looking forward to meeting even more like-minded people as we continue on this journey.

And what’s the best place to meet more rad people?

#FinCon17, of course. While the Mr went last year, this will be my first year attending. I am super excited! I hear there will be lots of good beer too.

Flights in Otavalo, Ecuador with super fun people and dysfunctional napkins.

And BBQ! Good thing Mr. Wow’s weigh in with Mr. 1500 is the first day, otherwise he’d be missing out.

My tummy is rumbling already.

Actually, I’ve been playing along while Mr. Wow and Mr. 1500 battle it out; never count me out of a fun little competition. I’ve upped my morning workouts and cut back on portions. I even started riding my bike 3-4 times a week to meet the Mr on his commute home. Just a few relatively simple changes and I feel better than I have in years and I didn’t have to do any awful crash diets *eh hem* SoyLent.

Taking the first step is always the hardest, but if you never start, you’ll never change. I’ve learned that when faced with a daunting task, I just take 5 minutes every day and pretty soon, I’ve made progress. I do this with cleaning and decluttering, going through mountains of paper to shredded, working out and even writing a blog post.

Reaching financial independence is definitely one of those daunting tasks. In the beginning it seems as if you will never get there. But over time, small changes start to snowball into bigger ones and pretty soon you are coasting on the waves of FI. Even if you are not exactly where you want to be, just remember that you are closer than you were yesterday.

While volunteering in Ecuador a few weeks ago, I met a an occupational therapy student who was completing his internship there. He was an amazing person with a passion for life and a brilliant energy that could light up any room. On my last night there, we went to dinner together. After recapping the week and looking forward to what life has in store for both him and me, he told me the quote his mother would always tell him. It was a perfect fit for that moment. I sat in reflection.

Wherever you are in life, in your FI journey, your personal or professional goals, just remember:

You are closer now, than you are far!

What have you learned over the past year? Any takeaways that you care to share? Do you ever get to take a minute and reflect on how far you’ve come?

Happy Blogiversary! Hope you have fun at fincon. You guys accomplished a lot in a year, and the trips you took sound so amazing. Cheers to another great year!Tonya@Budget and the Beach recently posted…September Rewind: The One Where I Didn’t Sleep

Thanks Tonya! You were definitely a great mentor to us, I appreciate all you wisdom and guidance in this whole blog-world. Looking forward to more beach runs and we still need to do the sand dunes one of these days.

Congrats on making it through the first year! It was great to meet you earlier this year and we are looking forward to meeting Mr. WoW someday as well. And Chautauqua and FinCon in the same year? 2017 has been a good year for you 🙂

I totally agree on the small things add up. A little more here, a little less there and before you know it, big things are happening. Let’s just hope there is a little less bike-car interactions for Mr. WoW!Mr. Need2save recently posted…Funding & Maintaining a Donor-Advised Fund (DAF)

Not only were Chautauqua and FinCon in the same year, there were also in the same month. 2017 was definitely a good year and October was one of the best months ever. You guys for sure need to try to go to these next year, they are so much fun and totally worth it.

And I agree, no more car/bike collisions would be nice. Hope to see you guys again soon. We might be in your next of the woods early December. When are you in San Diego next?

I have no idea how I missed this post last week. Maybe because I was super excited to see you??? Dunno, but I DO know I am glad you and that weird guy you married joined the FI community. Catch ya around!Gwen @ Fiery Millennials recently posted…Chautauqua 2017: Lessons Learned

That really was the best way to celebrate. Apparently we picked the right time to start a blog since now every year we will get to celebrate with the whole amazing community. Move over Disneyland, FinCon is the happiest place on earth!

Thanks for stopping by Vicki! I’m so glad that we got to hang out at FinCon, it was so much fun. And in my opinion, you guys definitely nailed the costume contest. I definitely hope that our paths cross again soon.